National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan dismisses China’s ‘peace deal’ for Ukraine and Russia as ‘unilateral diplomacy’ as the top Republican says it is ‘disturbing’ that Beijing is considering sending deadly aid to Moscow
- Sullivan said Chinese President Xi Jinping must meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday if he wants to negotiate a peace deal
- Comes after reports surfaced that China is considering sending deadly aid to Russia in its war with Ukraine
- Ukraine is now in the second year of war after Russia invaded last February
The Biden administration has lashed out at China for proposing a so-called “peace deal” between Ukraine and Russia without first consulting Kyiv.
The proposal came amid claims by senior Biden officials that Russia is considering sending “deadly aid” to Russia as it continues its invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a more than year-long war last February.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said China was engaging in “unilateral diplomacy” and said President Xi Jinping needs to speak to Ukrainian President Volodytmyr Zelensky, who has expressed an interest in discussing the proposal.
“China presented this plan without having a single conversation between President Xi and President Zelenskyy since the beginning of the war,” Sullivan told Chuck Todd, NBC’s Meet the Press host, on Sunday morning.
“The Chinese have spoken to the Russians a lot, but at the highest levels they haven’t spoken to the Ukrainians, and it’s very difficult to push any kind of peace initiative when that kind of unilateral diplomacy is going on,” he said. “So from our perspective, it is crucial that any peace plan offered by anyone must include Ukraine’s contribution.”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday that China needs to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he wants to negotiate a peace deal
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and claims he can broker a peace deal between the two nations. It comes after reports surfaced that China is considering sending deadly aid to Russia in its war with Ukraine
WATCH: Many US officials dismissed China’s peace plan. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy did not.@JakeSullivan46: Zelenskyy “would like to speak to President Xi. The Chinese have spoken to the Russians a lot, but they haven’t spoken to the Ukrainians at the highest level.” pic.twitter.com/wt9aHM6Sm2
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 26, 2023
“As President Biden has said time and time again, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, and that applies to this initiative as well as every other initiative under the sun,” Sullivan added.
President Joe Biden visited Ukraine last week as part of an unannounced trip to mark the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Biden met with Zelenskyy and spent 5 hours in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
During that trip, Biden pledged an additional $500 million to the US in aid to Ukraine at war with Russia – and urged other countries to continue to show their support for the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, Republicans and national security hawks are still hesitating over reports that Beijing is considering sending lethal aid to Moscow to help it defeat Ukraine.
“The fact that they will meet next week – Chairman Xi and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin – to discuss this unholy alliance that they have to get guns into Ukraine is very disturbing to me,” Texas Representative Michael McCaul told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning.
“While today may be Ukraine, tomorrow will be Taiwan,” McCaul added. “That’s why it’s so important.”
McCaul chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is a member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul said it was “disturbing” that China was considering sending lethal aid to Russia
Biden visited Kiev, Ukraine, last week for five hours on an unannounced trip to mark the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. On February 20, 2023 he met with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev
Sullivan says Zelensky is interested in speaking to China about his proposal for a ceasefire and negotiating a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
“What President Zelenskyy said were parts of the plan that he didn’t like and parts of the plan that he thought were OK,” Sullivan said.
“One part of the plan that I particularly liked is point one of the plan. Point one of the plan was: Respect the sovereignty of all nations,” the NSA told Biden. “The plan could just stop there because Russia could end this war by respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and withdrawing.”
“But what President Zelenskyi also said, and this is crucial, Chuck, is that he would like to speak to President Xi,” he added.